DA: Toddler likely shot herself in fatal accident at felon’s home

Police say adults were smoking pot

Preliminary evidence suggests that a 3-year-old girl who died Sunday in a Mount Washington home accidentally shot herself, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Thursday.

Yasha Ross of Coraopolis was shot in the upper chest by a gun she apparently found in the home, Mr. Zappala said during a news conference in Monroeville, where he was discussing security issues in the community.

That gun was in the possession of a man Mr. Zappala identified as 40-year-old Paul Parrish, a convicted felon who is prohibited from having a firearm. Parrish lived in the home in the 700 block of Southern Avenue.

Parrish, Delquay James and Michelle Gandy — Yasha’s mother — were smoking marijuana in the basement of the home around 1 p.m. Sunday when “they heard a loud bang coming from the upper part of the house,” a Pittsburgh police detective wrote in an affidavit. “They ran up the steps, and Michelle found her daughter bleeding from the chest and crying out for her.”

Ms. Gandy grabbed Yasha and flagged down a passing motorist, who drove them to Allegheny General Hospital. Yasha died there.

Parrish had pleaded guilty to a felony evading charge in 2014 and has also been convicted of several other felonies since 1996, according to court records. In 2007, Parrish pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was

sentenced to between three and six years in prison, court records show.

Authorities are hunting for Parrish on a warrant for the new firearm violation, and he may face federal prosecution, Mr. Zappala said. He said his office has not ruled out homicide charges in the case.

“When a felon is not supposed to possess [a firearm], and a child loses her life because that felon does in fact possess, there is a principle here that might make it appropriate to prosecute for the homicide,” Mr. Zappala said.

The woman who purchased the weapon also is being investigated for making a straw purchase, Mr. Zappala said. A straw purchase occurs when one person uses another to fill out the paperwork to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer.

The woman who bought the gun was identified in the affidavit as Parrish’s ex-girlfriend, Jamaya Moore. Parrish told investigators he had Ms. Moore’s gun because she owed him money.

Ms. Moore has not been charged.